Uci-prime Lc

[Dr. Don]

so is anyone applying to the UCI PRIME LC medical education program? For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about...it is a 5 year MD/MS program just started by UCI Med in which you can get your Masters in Latino Health Care. This program is specially designed for those who are interested in practicing medicine in latino underserved communities.
Because of this program UCI has become my top choice (along with UCLA) for medical school.

For those of you who are applying to UCI, just wanted to let you know that I just went under "review in process" yesterday 11/25, application complete 11/10/03, don't know if applying to the MD/Ms program sped the application process for me, seeing that I have read that some people have been waiting for months to get reviewed!

Well best of luck to everyone.

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[Prophecy]

Dr. Don,

Yes I have heard about the uci program. I wish you luck with uci. I have not heard from uci since July when my amcas was verified. I have been waiting forever for thier secondary but no luck.

Let me know how everything works out.


~proph... (eagle)

 

[Adapt]

Hey Dr. Don. I was thinking about applying to the program as well. However, you spend at least one year in Mexico practicing medicine.

I didnt apply because I called the admissions lady and she said the interview is held in spanish. I'm not fluent in spanish so I decided not to apply. If you're fluent then by all means it seems like a good deal. They said they had 12 spots open for students in addition to their regular class.

 

[LoneCoyote]

i did apply to this program, application complete around 11/15 and am also in "review in process." i also called them regarding the spanish language issue, since i am nowhere near fluent, and they encouraged me to apply anyway. i am a bit worried about the interview, but am trying to bring back my spanish a bit with tapes and stuff. she told me part of the interview is in english and that they will use the spanish part to determine where you langauage skills are, not to make you explain yourself in spanish. i am very interested in this program and it has made uci become one of my top choices too.

 

[Adapt]

Here is a website explaining more about the program.
http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2003/vol7n31/IrvineCAMedSchool-en.shtml
As I said before I was interested but I think they are looking for those that are basically fluent and you do spend time in Mexico.

"Students, who must already speak basic Spanish to be accepted, will learn everything from epidemiology of medical conditions common among Latinos -- such as diabetes -- to Latin American geography, so they know the origins of their patients."

"Study will take place in Irvine as well as in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Students will perform their residencies working with predominantly Latino patients."

I think the program is good for those that are fluent spanish speakers and are willing to also practice in Mexico and see mostly Latino patients.

 

[Dr. Don]

thanks for the replies peeps. I am very fluent in spanish, so no problem there...I just hope I get an interview . Medical Spanish is a little more difficult though...but I'm sure that with practice I'll be fine. Good luck azpremed, please post here if you hear anything and everybody else too. late

Prophecy, what up man...PM me and let me know how this application cycle is going for you, take care,

 

[docmemi]

prime lc is an amazing program.

it wont speed up the process. you are reviewed by the regular committee until accepted. after you have been accepted, the prime lc committee will review your file. so you have to get in first! they like people who have already shown an interest in this area and can explain that in the interview; you get treated pretty nicely, even get to go to dinner with them.

i think you spend several months in mexico before school starts, ie, in the summer. then you take a year off in between 3rd and 4th or 2nd and 3rd, i forget, to do the masters stuff. you are also guaranteed a residency spot at uci...they hope to make you a faculty there even. so its a program that will last a long time, more than 5 years really, and will likely dictate your whole life....but im sure you can get out of it after finishing the first 5 if you want. (disclaimer: info might not be 100% correct, but 99.99)

like you said, there are only like 8 (they said maybe 10, now you say 12) spots. so its competitive.

good luck.

ps: i didnt do it (some reasons: heard about it late, spanish interview sounded scary, extra year)

 

[Dr. Don]

Originally posted by trojan2004
prime lc is an amazing program.

it wont speed up the process. you are reviewed by the regular committee until accepted. after you have been accepted, the prime lc committee will review your file. so you have to get in first! they like people who have already shown an interest in this area and can explain that in the interview; you get treated pretty nicely, even get to go to dinner with them.

i think you spend several months in mexico before school starts, ie, in the summer. then you take a year off in between 3rd and 4th or 2nd and 3rd, i forget, to do the masters stuff. you are also guaranteed a residency spot at uci...they hope to make you a faculty there even. so its a program that will last a long time, more than 5 years really, and will likely dictate your whole life....but im sure you can get out of it after finishing the first 5 if you want. (disclaimer: info might not be 100% correct, but 99.99)

like you said, there are only like 8 (they said maybe 10, now you say 12) spots. so its competitive.

good luck.

ps: i didnt do it (some reasons: heard about it late, spanish interview sounded scary, extra year)

hey trojan2004, thanks for the info, but are you sure about getting accepted into UCI first then the prime-lc committee reviewing your file? I was under the impression (well Gayle told me this too) that if interviewed you get interviewed by a regular faculty-admissions committee member, then by a PRIME-LC committee member....so if that's the case, then the PRIME-LC committee (is there one? or is it all just one big committe with a combination of regular adcoms and PRIME-LC members in it?) has to have reviewed your file BEFORE the interview....anybody know more about this?

 

[LoneCoyote]

Originally posted by Dr. Don
hey trojan2004, thanks for the info, but are you sure about getting accepted into UCI first then the prime-lc committee reviewing your file? I was under the impression (well Gayle told me this too) that if interviewed you get interviewed by a regular faculty-admissions committee member, then by a PRIME-LC committee member....so if that's the case, then the PRIME-LC committee (is there one? or is it all just one big committe with a combination of regular adcoms and PRIME-LC members in it?) has to have reviewed your file BEFORE the interview....anybody know more about this?

i too was under the impression that your admission to uci and your admission to prime-lc were 2 different things. when i called to talk about the spanish skills issue, i was told to apply, and that even if i was not accepted into prime-lc that it would not impact my admission to the med school. i thought this meant that there would be 2 different interview processes.... i'd love to hear more too if anyone has anymore info.

thanks for the article slickness. it's cool that this program is getting attention. the secondary asks you to rate your spanish ability from none at all to needing different degrees of interpretation to being fluent. so i don't know. i was very upfront about the fact that i am not fluent, more on the basic level. it'll be interesting to see if i get an interview or not, and if so what it is like.

anyway, happy thanksgiving and good luck to everyone with this program and uci, and post if you get any info

 

[docmemi]

you would have 3 interviews on the same day. faculty (not nec on the adcom), student, prime-lc faculty/committee m,ember in spanish.

if you get an interview for the regular program, then you automatically (i dont think you are granted one if they like you, more like if you want one, you get it) get a prime-lc one the same day. but again, you must get a regular interview first.

there are 2 separate committees. if you get into uci, then you are looked at by prime lc. so, prime lc will not affect your regular admissions. and i think there are only 8 spots, no more than 10 though. next year, there will be 12.

but, beware, dont mess up in the prime lc interview. if you scare them, they might just tell the regular committee not to accept you. this is true of any interview you go to, though.

 

[LoneCoyote]

Just an update... I got an interview invite for UCI with a Prime-LC interview included today for early January. I'm stoked. I am planning to call tomorrow and clarify about the level of Spanish needed for the interview since this thread has raised some questions about that for me. I'll post again if I find anything out. Did anyone else hear from them today?

 

[priscy921]

Hi Guys, I was accepted to PRIME LC/UCI a couple of weeks ago, and you ONLY SPEND A FEW WEEKS IN MEXICO DURING THE SUMMER BEFORE YOUR FIRST SEMESTER. you DON"T SPEND A YEAR THERE.... it is a great program, i decided to do it for other personal reasons, but i do recommend it... the people starting the program are wonderful people, great to work with

 

[priscy921]

Sorry, I meant that i did NOT decide to do prime lc/uci for personal reasons, but i do think that its a great program and recommend it to others

 

[LoneCoyote]

priscy921,

thanks for posting. can you tell me a bit about what to expect at the interview? i have heard so much conflicting stuff about the language level one needs to have. originally uci told me just "basic" spanish is fine and i am not sure what exactly that means.... i am far from fluent, but also not totally incompetent either.

 

[priscy921]

Hi Guys, i had a few of you email me questions about prime-lc, so i thought i'd just post my answers for everyone. it's a great program like i said, but uci is not my top choice and i already got into some of my more favored choices so i declined their acceptance offer for prime-lc and uci. however, i do know some of the details. i think prime-lc would be a wonderful experience for people if it fits into their plans.

the prime-lc interview isn't looking for fluency, the purpose of the 5 weeks in mexico (which by the way is ONLY five weeks, NOT a year, and its just during one summer in a beautiful beach town) anyway, the purpose of the mexico-time is to improve your language skills, not test them. so they don't mind if your language skills are just basic or beginning. what they want is to see your passion for the Latino community, and your willingness/dedication to improving your spanish speaking skills. in the interview they'll just ask you some intro questions about why you are applying to prime/how it will help you accomplish your goals, and what experiences you have had with the latino community. hope this helps! also, someone asked me when i applied/interviewed. i applied to primelc with my secondary in august, interviewed oct 2, and was accepted mid november, but i decided not to attend uci so i won't get to see you guys if you get in, good luck though to everyone!